client, is more than done with the massage portion of her treatment. She sits up and pushes away Brian. Her eyes laser at me as she awaits her adjustment. Simon notices too. “She’ll be right with you. This is important.”
Simon takes me into a corner by my private office. I can smell the light scent of his aftershave. “I’ve known you for a lot of years. You used to have a smile that brightened the entire office, but it’s wearing down. You’re taking on too much of this place. You need to get out more and be with other natural health people to encourage one another.”
I feel hopeful at his words. The romance of being taken away from all this is every girl’s dream. The reality, my nightmare.
“Simon, enough of this, all right?” I say it, but I don’t move away and our proximity stirs something within me that I haven’t wanted to admit. So I go straight back to business, the safe topic. “I believe in this mind-body connection, but I’m not a New Ager and nearly everyone in my field is. I am a Christian and I believe the energy of the Holy Spirit is the most cleansing type of energy. Where are you going to find people like that in my line of work? On a little island no less. You may be good, but you’re not a miracle worker.”
“Are you trying to convince me or you?”
“I dance to the beat of my own drummer. I don’t want a health spa.”
“Your own drummer? Then what’s the purple skirt about?” he asks, looking at my trendy, Sharon A-line skirt.
I feel myself starting to get hot. Why has everyone taken to analyzing me? Fixing me? I’m the one who offers advice. I fix people. This is my gifting. “Simon, I have to go to work.”
He waves over his shoulder without turning around. “Think about what I said; you won’t get a better offer or an easier shot.”
I don’t answer him. I just change the paper on the table and motion for Mary to lie down, awestruck at how small she feels after Simon’s muscular frame. I suck in a deep breath and get her in the right position for her adjustment, but my mind wanders into the lush greenery that is the Aloha Spirit.
The bell rings in the foyer and I look over the swinging doors to see the blonde I saw in the convertible yesterday in the parking lot. “I’ve got to run,” I hear Simon say to her. He kisses the blonde on the lips as he walks outside. I flinch at the image. Naturally, with his money, he’d be toting a trophy woman to his events. An elegant lady like Morgan who could hold her own at all his business events. (Well, like Morgan except for the screaming into the cell phone part and the public discussion of divorce. Morgan would never resort to such commonness.) I try to focus on Mary’s back and swallow the lump in my throat.
“Simon really does want a personal chiropractor,” I whisper aloud. The revelation is like a cold shower on a brisk day. And that’s all he wants.
She’s not good enough for him, and she’s not even divorced yet. Why are men such idiots? How can they start huge companies and yet succumb to something so common as a blonde in a convertible? I wonder if Simon neglected to tell me she was coming to Hawaii as well. She’ll probably get one of those quickie foreign divorces with a man like Simon on the line. A girl like that doesn’t catch and release.
“You know, there’s nothing wrong with telling the man how you feel. The worst he can say is that he’s not interested. He’s leaving, so what does it matter?” Mary stands up and slings her large handbag over her shoulder. I start to comment on how bad that is for her back, but I quickly clamp my mouth shut.
I shake my head. “It’s not like that.”
She pats my shoulder. “Whatever you say, Poppy. See you next week.”
I follow Mary into the foyer and watch her leave. “Poppy? You all right?” Emma asks while munching on a wheat-free bread stick. “What’d you do to Mary? She didn’t even pay.”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. I probably
Simon takes me into a corner by my private office. I can smell the light scent of his aftershave. “I’ve known you for a lot of years. You used to have a smile that brightened the entire office, but it’s wearing down. You’re taking on too much of this place. You need to get out more and be with other natural health people to encourage one another.”
I feel hopeful at his words. The romance of being taken away from all this is every girl’s dream. The reality, my nightmare.
“Simon, enough of this, all right?” I say it, but I don’t move away and our proximity stirs something within me that I haven’t wanted to admit. So I go straight back to business, the safe topic. “I believe in this mind-body connection, but I’m not a New Ager and nearly everyone in my field is. I am a Christian and I believe the energy of the Holy Spirit is the most cleansing type of energy. Where are you going to find people like that in my line of work? On a little island no less. You may be good, but you’re not a miracle worker.”
“Are you trying to convince me or you?”
“I dance to the beat of my own drummer. I don’t want a health spa.”
“Your own drummer? Then what’s the purple skirt about?” he asks, looking at my trendy, Sharon A-line skirt.
I feel myself starting to get hot. Why has everyone taken to analyzing me? Fixing me? I’m the one who offers advice. I fix people. This is my gifting. “Simon, I have to go to work.”
He waves over his shoulder without turning around. “Think about what I said; you won’t get a better offer or an easier shot.”
I don’t answer him. I just change the paper on the table and motion for Mary to lie down, awestruck at how small she feels after Simon’s muscular frame. I suck in a deep breath and get her in the right position for her adjustment, but my mind wanders into the lush greenery that is the Aloha Spirit.
The bell rings in the foyer and I look over the swinging doors to see the blonde I saw in the convertible yesterday in the parking lot. “I’ve got to run,” I hear Simon say to her. He kisses the blonde on the lips as he walks outside. I flinch at the image. Naturally, with his money, he’d be toting a trophy woman to his events. An elegant lady like Morgan who could hold her own at all his business events. (Well, like Morgan except for the screaming into the cell phone part and the public discussion of divorce. Morgan would never resort to such commonness.) I try to focus on Mary’s back and swallow the lump in my throat.
“Simon really does want a personal chiropractor,” I whisper aloud. The revelation is like a cold shower on a brisk day. And that’s all he wants.
She’s not good enough for him, and she’s not even divorced yet. Why are men such idiots? How can they start huge companies and yet succumb to something so common as a blonde in a convertible? I wonder if Simon neglected to tell me she was coming to Hawaii as well. She’ll probably get one of those quickie foreign divorces with a man like Simon on the line. A girl like that doesn’t catch and release.
“You know, there’s nothing wrong with telling the man how you feel. The worst he can say is that he’s not interested. He’s leaving, so what does it matter?” Mary stands up and slings her large handbag over her shoulder. I start to comment on how bad that is for her back, but I quickly clamp my mouth shut.
I shake my head. “It’s not like that.”
She pats my shoulder. “Whatever you say, Poppy. See you next week.”
I follow Mary into the foyer and watch her leave. “Poppy? You all right?” Emma asks while munching on a wheat-free bread stick. “What’d you do to Mary? She didn’t even pay.”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. I probably
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